Leszek H. Ward
A number of factors make The Tempest a rich text in which to consider matters of sight and perspective. First, the play is especially visual in nature, rich with stage directions and special effects. From the opening tempest to the exotic setting and many songs and spells that appear throughout the play, the audience is constantly exposed to visual (and auditory) stimulation. This makes The Tempest an ideal text through which to study the experience of Elizabethan theatre and with which to highlight the centrality of performance to the work of William Shakespeare. By studying what the audience sees, students will be able to gain an understanding of both the theatre and of the play itself.
Questions concerning what the audience sees are further enriched by the probability that The Tempest was written specifically for performance at the new Blackfriars theatre. Much more intimate than the famous Globe, the Blackfriars allowed performers and playwrights to readily manipulate light and sound, providing them with newfound control over the physical experience of attending the theatre. By studying the effects of light and sound on the perspective of the audience, students can come to better understand a play in which nearly every character is manipulated by means of a song, a disguise, or a spell.
This very manipulation also makes the study of characters' perspectives particularly fruitful. For the majority of the play, Prospero remains the only character to see the island and its inhabitants in their entirety. Until the final act, Prospero's companions are either physically separated from each other, enchanted by Ariel, or both; their knowledge of their own situations is severely limited by what they do and do not see. By focusing on what the characters and audience of The Tempest see, one can uncover significant metaphorical implications concerning the power of art. In knowing the limited perspectives of the characters, one understands how vulnerable they are to manipulation at the hands of an all-powerful Prospero. In recognizing that the perspective of the audience is similarly manipulated by Shakespeare and his actors, students can understand the potential of art to affect the way they see the world around them.
The Tempest is also a play that raises significant questions concerning the ways in which different characters and cultures see and understand each other. The events that take place on the island take on very different meanings based on the perspective from which they are seen. Prospero can be seen as a lovingly caring father to Miranda or an overbearingly protective patriarch. His treatment of Caliban can be understood as the result of frustrated good intentions or the actions of a treacherous tyrant. Caliban himself can be seen as an ugly, dangerous savage or an innocent and oppressed native, fighting for his freedom. Each of these perspectives is valid in that the text is open to interpretation and supports each reading.
Furthermore, studying The Tempest allows students the opportunity to consider the relationship between what Elizabethans knew about distant cultures of the New World and how they saw them. The Tempest is loosely drawn from the accounts of exploration and shipwreck that were making their way back to Europe at the turn of the seventeenth century, many of which documented Europeans' first encounters with (and impressions of) the indigenous people they met. There has been much debate about whether the play challenges or gives voice to the Eurocentric worldview from which it was created, and it is undoubtedly beneficial to include students in this meaningful conversation. There is, however, a larger lesson to be taken from this discussion. Students must understand that imperfect knowledge often results in a skewed perception of others; this is a valuable lesson for students to carry with them throughout their lives, a lesson that will far outlast their understanding of the particulars of Shakespeare's play.
